JOHNPEET
Well-known member
Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of the deck having been lifted in to place and fixed down prior to the synthetic teak decking being fitted - and I didn’t want to spoil the future posts of that being done! Apologies ?
Steel boat build - Almarine 1200fa
- Thread starter JOHNPEET
- Start date
Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of the deck having been lifted in to place and fixed down prior to the synthetic teak decking being fitted - and I didn’t want to spoil the future posts of that being done! Apologies ?
Mr Googler
Well-known member
Mmmm…shame the grooves aren’t even width ???
JOHNPEET
Well-known member
Wwww just found this!
Bouba
Well-known member
yeah...not bad...
JOHNPEET
Well-known member
Synthetic teak decking!
I had always planned to undertake the deck covering installation myself, but I have to give a massive thank you to Hurricane for his post on his decking project and the help that he gave me in a number of PMs. Without doubt, the information that I gleaned from him saved me an immense amount of time in terms of the learning process.
So having completed as much research as possible and having been pointed towards Trakmark by Hurricane, my approach was to purchase sufficient materials and tooling to complete the decking on the swim platform . Based on the success of that, I would then move on to the rest of the decking. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really have a plan B, but it seamed like a sensible approach!
I should also mention that I also received great support and advice from the owner and staff at Trakmark too.
I won’t explain all the methodology in this post as that information is contained within Hurricane’s post - link below
DIY Synthetic Teak
One thing I will mention is that the usual approach is to first of all make a template of the area to be covered. This is then taken to a large flat area where you fabricate the deck “mat”. In my case, because I didn’t have a such an area - I chose to fabricate all of the decking mats on the boat itself. I’ll cover a bit more of that in future posts.
I had always planned to undertake the deck covering installation myself, but I have to give a massive thank you to Hurricane for his post on his decking project and the help that he gave me in a number of PMs. Without doubt, the information that I gleaned from him saved me an immense amount of time in terms of the learning process.
So having completed as much research as possible and having been pointed towards Trakmark by Hurricane, my approach was to purchase sufficient materials and tooling to complete the decking on the swim platform . Based on the success of that, I would then move on to the rest of the decking. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really have a plan B, but it seamed like a sensible approach!
I should also mention that I also received great support and advice from the owner and staff at Trakmark too.
I won’t explain all the methodology in this post as that information is contained within Hurricane’s post - link below
DIY Synthetic Teak
One thing I will mention is that the usual approach is to first of all make a template of the area to be covered. This is then taken to a large flat area where you fabricate the deck “mat”. In my case, because I didn’t have a such an area - I chose to fabricate all of the decking mats on the boat itself. I’ll cover a bit more of that in future posts.
Bouba
Well-known member
Stunning
Hurricane
Well-known member
Yep
After our last PM, I had another go at Top Welding. Most of the joints that are made when using the Trakmark product are welded on the underside but any corners etc are welded on the top after routing out a 4mm slot using a standard wood router. It has always worried me that a mistake made Top Welding can ruin a job that has taken a long time to get to that stage. If you read through my thread linked to above, you will see that I developed a "chickens" approach by buying a hot air electronics soldering station and welding my corners very slowly by hand.
After a few PMs with John, I decided to have another go at Top Welding using the normal hot air gun - the way that the professionals do.
I have to say that I have also invested in a Liester Hot Jet S welder which is much easier to use than the bigger one that I started with.
Anyway, thanks to John, I have now mastered Top Welding.
A few weeks ago, I helped a friend (someone well known on this forum) to make a synthetic deck for his bathing platform. It was a great opportunity to try out my new Top Welding skills - an unsuspecting Guinea Pig!!
I will see if I can find something pics of the Top Welding on that job. I'm quite pleased with the results we got and I feel I can do a much better job now than when I started.
So, again, thanks to John.
With his encouragement, I feel a lot more confident.
EDIT
Without hijacking John's build thread, and without belittling his fantastic work, here are a few pics of the plastic teak job that we did a few weeks ago.
I believe it should be fitted by now.
All those curves and corners are Top Welded - the professional way.
After our last PM, I had another go at Top Welding. Most of the joints that are made when using the Trakmark product are welded on the underside but any corners etc are welded on the top after routing out a 4mm slot using a standard wood router. It has always worried me that a mistake made Top Welding can ruin a job that has taken a long time to get to that stage. If you read through my thread linked to above, you will see that I developed a "chickens" approach by buying a hot air electronics soldering station and welding my corners very slowly by hand.
After a few PMs with John, I decided to have another go at Top Welding using the normal hot air gun - the way that the professionals do.
I have to say that I have also invested in a Liester Hot Jet S welder which is much easier to use than the bigger one that I started with.
Anyway, thanks to John, I have now mastered Top Welding.
A few weeks ago, I helped a friend (someone well known on this forum) to make a synthetic deck for his bathing platform. It was a great opportunity to try out my new Top Welding skills - an unsuspecting Guinea Pig!!
I will see if I can find something pics of the Top Welding on that job. I'm quite pleased with the results we got and I feel I can do a much better job now than when I started.
So, again, thanks to John.
With his encouragement, I feel a lot more confident.
EDIT
Without hijacking John's build thread, and without belittling his fantastic work, here are a few pics of the plastic teak job that we did a few weeks ago.
I believe it should be fitted by now.
All those curves and corners are Top Welded - the professional way.
Last edited:
Bouba
Well-known member
Amazing work, Hurricane...which parts are ‘top welded’ ?
Hurricane
Well-known member
The curves, the miter corners and the little joints within the curve pieces are top welded. The black Top Weld rod is a softer material than the back weld rod. It seems to have a lower melting point so I use a slightly lower temperature setting on the hot air weld gun. And then sand it smooth
Bouba
Well-known member
I studied the seams carefully in your photos and they all look equally perfect
JOHNPEET
Well-known member
So after completing the swim platform as a test area, I ordered sufficient material bar a few bits and pieces to complete the rest of the boat. The second area that I chose to tackle was the section of deck in front of the windscreen . As I mentioned in my post of last night, I didn’t have a flat area large enough to lay out a template and fabricate the decking on it, so I fabricated my decking on the opposite side of the boat - so the starboard side of the decking was fabricated (back welded) flip side up on the port side and vice versa. The two sections were then placed in their proper places and trimmed down the centre for the king plank. As the king plank material does not have a border manufactured into it, this required a route and top weld for its entire length. I left the borders and mitres around the hatches until a little later in the project so that I could gain some further confidence in top welding curves and preparing the corner pieces. The cutting is not as extravagant as some professionals would do - especially around the king plank area, but this was about me recognising my skill limitations and just achieving a finish that was acceptable even if more simple .
One thing that I found really useful with the Trakmark deliveries - each order came with a free pair of new knees! ?
One thing that I found really useful with the Trakmark deliveries - each order came with a free pair of new knees! ?
Bouba
Well-known member
Luckily you molded the ballast ingots before you built the boat ??
Hurricane
Well-known member
Great having the boat there when you are actually making the panels.
When I did mine the boat was 1000 miles away!
But those top welds on the king plank are very good.
I cheated when I did my king plank.
I decided not to use the Trakmark king plank but instead join two boarder pieces "back to back" and fix the joint using the repair rod that Trakmark supply. That way, I had black edges that could then be back welded easily.
My logic was that I had spent a lot of time making the main deck a d I didn't want to ruin the work that I had already done with a bad top weld.
If my repair rod joint didn't work, I would have only mucked up a couple of lengths of border section.
This is a pic of mine when I was making it.
Can you see the joint!
When I did mine the boat was 1000 miles away!
But those top welds on the king plank are very good.
I cheated when I did my king plank.
I decided not to use the Trakmark king plank but instead join two boarder pieces "back to back" and fix the joint using the repair rod that Trakmark supply. That way, I had black edges that could then be back welded easily.
My logic was that I had spent a lot of time making the main deck a d I didn't want to ruin the work that I had already done with a bad top weld.
If my repair rod joint didn't work, I would have only mucked up a couple of lengths of border section.
This is a pic of mine when I was making it.
Can you see the joint!
Bouba
Well-known member
John, now that you know how easy it is to build a boat, don’t you wish that you had started with a sixty footer instead?
JOHNPEET
Well-known member
If I was doing it again, I might choose to do it that way as it avoids all the hassle of the routing and guarantees you a good caulk line! ??
JOHNPEET
Well-known member
Apparently, the sixty footers take 21 years and more than one wife to complete! ??
Its been hard enough trying to find somewhere to park this on the water without having to sell the house to do it!
JOHNPEET
Well-known member
Foredeck and side-decks decking!
So, to make the fabrication and installation of the decking in these areas practical for this single handed non-professional, I decided to make them in three separate mats. I haven’t attempted to disguise the joints, they’re there to be seen and I think they look ok.
The side deck mats were made in a similar way to the previous ones where they were fabricated upside down on the opposite side of the boat to achieve the long curves. Due to the tapering of the width of the side decks , some long cuts were required to achieve the end result.
So, to make the fabrication and installation of the decking in these areas practical for this single handed non-professional, I decided to make them in three separate mats. I haven’t attempted to disguise the joints, they’re there to be seen and I think they look ok.
The side deck mats were made in a similar way to the previous ones where they were fabricated upside down on the opposite side of the boat to achieve the long curves. Due to the tapering of the width of the side decks , some long cuts were required to achieve the end result.
Hurricane
Well-known member
Yep
That looks really good.
Especially the small "take up" plank that you have kept on the onboard side.
You may remember from my thread that some of the professional installers get it wrong and split it which might work in some instances but IMO looks wrong. Just check out the professional ones in my thread. I bet you took some time working out the plank spacing - I did on mine but it is worth it.
Anyway, as I say, it looks great.
That looks really good.
Especially the small "take up" plank that you have kept on the onboard side.
You may remember from my thread that some of the professional installers get it wrong and split it which might work in some instances but IMO looks wrong. Just check out the professional ones in my thread. I bet you took some time working out the plank spacing - I did on mine but it is worth it.
Anyway, as I say, it looks great.
JOHNPEET
Well-known member
It’s not perfectly symmetrical at the intersection between the side decks and foredeck, but you can blame the guy that did the steel fabrication for that ?
Bouba
Well-known member
A small trawler should have asymmetrical side decks ??
